Junction-box



QNo Model.) 7 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

O. R. ARNOLD.

JUNCTION BOX.

No. 476,970. Patented June 14, 1892.

ATTEST/ I 'I I (No Model) 0. R. ARNOLD.

JUNCTION BOX.

Fig.5-

Patented June 14, 1892.

Fig/:5.

, vr'rEsT:

INVENTU Gra y RA flrnolob oftorney 2 sheetssheet UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CRAIG RITCHIE ARNOLD, OF SHARON IIILL, PENNSYLVANIA.

JUNCTION-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 476,970, dated June 1 '1, 1892.

Application filed March 22, 1892.

To a whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CRAIG RI'roIIIE ARNOLD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Sharon Hill, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Junction-Box, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of electric junction or branch boxes; and the object of the invention is to provide a box which shall be compact and ready of access and which shall have a capacity for use either as a three or a four way box at pleasure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a box in which the devices may be readily removed without taking off the cover and which shall be especially adapted for use in locations where the j unction-box has to be attached overhead, as is frequently required on shipboard.

In the junction-box constructed according to my invention the two line bars or stripsof the box with which the line-wires are connected are interchangeable with one another and may be made from the same pattern. Thesame is true, also, of the two branch blocks or bars to which the branch wires are attached.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan of a junction-box constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of one of the line-bars detached from the box. Fig. 3 is a perspective of one of the branch bars or blocks detached. Fig. 4 is an edge View of one of the line bars or blocks. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line between the two parallel line blocks or bars. Fig. 6 is a plan of the box complete, with the detachable central cap or plug removed. Fig. 7 shows one of the fuses detached.

A is the box, made as usual and, as preferred, of metal, such as brass.

B B B are the glands into which enter the pipes or conduit carrying the line-wires, and O C are similar glands for the branch wires.

D is the lid or cover ofthe box, which lid or cover is fastened down, as usual, by means of the screws (1, while E is the usual sheath or packing of rubber seated between the edges of the lid or cover and the edges of the body of the box to make awater-proof joint at these points. This lid or cover as thus far described is of the usual or ordinary construc- Serial No. 425,942. (No model-l tion heretofore employed in the art and which it has heretofore been necessary to remove entire in order to replace the lid, an operation which is diflicult and troublesome in many situations of the junction-box, especially on shipboard. At the center of this lid or cover D is a detachable screw cap or plug F, imperforate and adapted when screwed home to seal the opening in the plate. Immediately beneath this central cap orplug are arranged spring-fuse clips or clamps which by means of the disposition and construction of the interior parts, as will be presently described, I am enabled to locate in this position, where they may be readily got at for the purpose of renewing the fuse by simply dotaching the cap or plug F and without removing the lid or cover D entire, as has heretofore been necessary in the art.

G G indicate the line bars or blocks of the junction-box, which bars are straight bars parallel to one another, mounted or secured in any proper manner upon a porcelain or other insulating base-block I, fastened in the bottom of the box. These straight bars or strips G are mounted on the block I at such a distance apart as may be necessary to insure good insulation and their ends have lateral projections, as shown, bringing them into line with the glands B, said ends being provided, as usual, with the proper sockets or clamps G for the line-wires.

Bridging the line bars or strips are branch bars or blocks II. These branch bars, as will be seen, are in the form of bridges adapted to straddle the two line-bars, and are separated from said line-bars by a very considerable air-space to make good insulation. The line-bars terminate in heads or blocks, which form the sockets or clamps at G, adapted to receive the branch wires led into the box through glands 0.

As will be seen, thebranch bars orbridges might be provided with a clamping device at one or both ends, as desired. It the box were to be used only as a three-way box, it may in some cases be desirable to use the sockets or clamps at one end only; but I prefer to use them at both ends, as I not only provide a box which may be employed either as a threeway or a four-way box at pleasure, but also one which is adapted for use either for right or left hand branch connections, as may be desired.

K K indicate the fuse clamps or holders. Each pair K K is disposed, as shown, in line parallel with the line-bars and in the space between the two bridging branch bars. The clamp K is a spring-clamp with its mouth opening toward the plug or cap I and is fastened or secured in any desired way to the branch bar, but preferably to a projection attached to or formed integral with said branch bar and extending toward the opening in the lid or cover D. The fuse clip or spring K is fastened or secured to a postor projection G rising from the line-bar. The fuse itself is contained in a tube M, preferably of glass, and having collars upon its ends adapted to be grasped by the clamps K K. The fusewire is attached to said collars by soldering. The collars themselves consist, preferably, of wire wound in the form of a spiral spring upon a suitable former of slightly-less gage than the tube itself, so that the wire spring will have to be opened slightly in order to apply it to the tube, after which it will hug the end of the tube tightly, and no other fastening appliance will be required. At the same time the number of points of contact afforded by the several turns of the wire insure the making of a good connection between the fuse and its clip.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is 1. In a junction or branch box for electric conductors, the combination, substantially as described, of line bars or strips and branch bars, said branch bars crossing said line-bars and being provided at their ends with clamps or attachments for holding the branch and line wires, as and for the purpose described.

2. In a junction or branch box for electric wiring, the combination, substantially as described, with a box or case having a lid or cover fastened thereon by screws or other devices and provided with the air-tight packing, of a central detachable screw cap or plug in said lid or cover, line bars or strips and branch bars or strips fastened to an insulating-base within said box or cover, and fuse clips or holders arranged in pairs upon said line and branch bars and disposed, as described, immediately beneath the central opening, closed by said detachable cap or lug.

The combinatiomin a junction orbranch box for electric wires, of branch and line bars mounted on an insulating-block within said box and crossing one another, as described, a lid or cover and suitable fastening devices for securing the same permanently in position, a detachable screw cap or plug at the center of said cover, and fuse clips or holders mounted in pairs on said crossing branch and line bars and in the space between the branch bars immediately beneath the central opening, covered by said detachable cap or plug.

4. I11 a branch or junction box, the combination,substantially as described, with the two parallel line-bars G G, having the line clamps at opposite ends, of the two parallel branch bars 11 H, formed as bridges, straddling the parallel line-wires and the pair of fuse-clips fastened to the said line and branch bars and arranged, as described, to hold the fuse in the space between the parallel branch bars.

5. In a junction-box, the combination,substantially as described, with a pair of linebars and a pair of branch bars, one pair formed as bridges across the other pair, of two pairs of fuse-clips mounted on said line and branch bars and arranged to hold the fuses in the space between the parallel bridgingbars.

(J. In a branch or junction box for electric wiring, the combination, substantially as described, of a pair of line-bars and a pair of branch bars, one pair formed as bridges straddling the other pair and the latter pair be ing provided with lateral extensions to bring their sockets or clips into line with the openings through which the conductor-wires pass.

7. The combination, substantially as described, with the pair of line-bars and the pair of branch bars bridging one another, of a pair of fuse-clips, one mounted on a bridging-bar and the other upon a post or projection rising from a bridged bar.

8. In a bridge or junction box for electric wires, the combination,substantially as described, of parallel line-bars and parallel branch bars crossing one another, as described, all of said bars being provided with wire clips or clamps at opposite ends.

9. The combination, substantially as described, with the parallel line-bars having lateral projections bearing wire clamps to receive the line-wires, of the parallel branch bars formed as bridges crossing said line-bars and each provided with a wire clip or clamp in the support at both ends of thebridge, and spring fuse-clips mounted upon the branch bars and upon projections rising from the line-bars, said spring fuse-clips opening outward to adapt them to receive the ends of the fuse.

10. The combination, with the fuse-tubes, of glass or similar material, containing the fuse-wires, of the collars on the ends of said tube, formed of coiled spring-Wire, as and for the purpose described.

Signed at Chester, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, this 10th day of March, A. D. 1892.

CRAIG RITCHIE ARNOLD.

Witnesses:

CHARLES PALMER, M. A. MARTIN.

ICC

IIO 

